Tallahassee Wedding Wine Choices

I just got back from a weekend in Tallahassee, Florida. For those of you who weren't paying attention in 5th grade social studies class, Tallahassee is the capital of Florida. It's on the panhandle, actually closer to Macon, Georgia and Montgomery, Alabama than to Miami, for example. I'd never been there before, or anywhere in the real south, for that matter.

The trees were shockingly beautiful. Old and graceful Cypress, Willows, and others, trunks of huge diameter, and many of them with lacy green Spanish Moss draped all over the branches. I saw alligators, blue heron, various other heron, and ibises on the Wakulla River. I ate an amazing pulled pork sandwich at a place called Gertie's BBQ. I saw many stately looking houses set in deep green fields, and many boarded up houses and stores in the downtown area. It was super humid, and quite hot - at least 95 during the days. Some of the accents were amazing - this park ranger who piloted our boat on the Wakulla River - I could listen to books on tape, or anything else this guy says, all day long.

My friend asked me to select the wines for his rehearsal dinner and wedding, an honor of the highest proportion. Approximately 250 people planned to attend each event. Rehearsal dinner was BBQ ribs and chicken and the usual sides. Wedding dinner was a buffet that including everything from Sushi rolls to roast beef to cheese fondue. Budget was $15 per bottle, which I took to mean including shipping from NY, which adds about $3/bottle. Why ship from NYC, you ask? I wanted to get delicious natural wine for the wedding, and the closest cities I could find that had what I might have wanted are New Orleans, Atlanta, and Miami. Why not just go with what I know and do it from home.

This wasn't easy! After several tastings with bride and groom, we decided on the following for the rehearsal dinner:

2006 Domaine de la Pepiere Muscadet, $12, (Louis/Dressner Selections). Crisp, bracing, a bit creamy, nice citrus falvors, easy to drink as an aperitif or with dinner. It wasn't as easy a year ago when it was released, but the year in the bottle has mellowed the edges. This vanished right quick, before the dinner even began, I believe. That's what happens when you offer delicious white wine on an outdoor terrace on a summer Friday evening in Tallahassee.

2005 Clos Siguier Cahors, $10, (Jenny & Francois). You already know that I love this light, but deep and complex rendition of Cahors. I thought that its berry and licorice flavors, and its medium bodied and slightly grippy texture would work well with BBQ. Hard to gauge, but it seemed as though people enjoyed it.

For the wedding:

2006 Domaine de la Fruitiere Jardin de la Fruitiere, $9 (JD Headrick Imports). A VdT blend of Chardonnay and Melon de Bourgogne, this is one that I discovered while tasting through the recession wines.

2004 Domaine de la Soucherie Anjou, $12 (Rosenthal Imports). I was worried about the alcohol at 13.5%, but in all other respects it seemed like a good choice. It turned out to be a lovely glass in the frothy heat of the wedding. So yes, both whites are Loire Valley.

2006 Château d'Oupia Minervois, $10, (Louis/Dressner Selections). A beautiful dark and fruity red. I only wish that they had chilled it a bit.

2006 Domaine Rimbert Saint-Chinian Les Travers de Marceau, $12 (Jenny & Francois). Yeah, I know that it's also a Grenache blend, but this wine is very different from the Minervois. This one is lighter in color and body and the perfume is raspberries and herbs. The Minervois is darker and juicier and earthier.

It was a gorgeous wedding. Even the weather cooperated - for those two hours, the humidity lifted, the breezes swayed through the trees, the light was perfect over the pond. And everyone focused on having fun, not on their wine, which is a good thing.

Jenny & Francois Follow Up

I was very much impressed with the Jenny & Francois portfolio, so much so that I decided to buy a few and taste them at home with dinner. I'm happy to tell you that these wines are even better with a meal than they were at the tasting.

You know what this means? This means that there's a whole new crop of under $20 wines that I am confident about buying. This is important, as the dollar buys less and less wine these days. And by the way, all of these wines (and many other Jenny & Francois wines) are available at Astor Wines in Manhattan.

We don't drink a whole lot of wine from southern France, as those we've tasted are too big and roasted, a bit hot, and they don't drink easily with food (or at all). But these wines are graceful and perfumed, elegant sometimes. Here are the wines we sampled at home:

2006 Domaine Rimbert St Chinian Les Travers de Marceau, $14. This wine is from St Chinian, an appellation in the western part of the Languedoc. The blend is Mourvedre, Carignan, and Grenache. We enjoyed this wine with a simple meal of skirt steak and baked potatoes. Nicely perfumed, very fruity and floral, good acidity, very lively, and definitely had the muscle to stand up to the steak. A great value for everyday drinking.

2005 Clos Siguier Cahors, $12. Maybe this excellent wine is so inexpensive because Cahors is not a fashionable wine region. Whatever the reason, if I had to choose right now I would select this wine as the value red of 2008. This wine is just so good, so interestingly and enticingly perfumed, so nicely balanced, so lively in the mouth, and such a great compliment to food. And this is Malbec we're talking about, with a little bit (5%) of Tannat thrown in. We had this with a cuisine grandmère dish of French green lentils stewed with russet potatoes, pork shoulder, and thick-cut bacon. Ladle it right into a bowl, a green salad with a bright vinegary dressing, and YUM. Anyway...This wine benefits from 30 minutes of airtime. You can decant it too, no shame in that. Aromas of raspberries, flowers, and something herbal initially, then with air comes lots of black licorice and bit of cocoa. This is a bright and airy nose, very pure and enticing. The flavors echo the nose, and although the tannins are a bit coarse, the wine has nice texture and is just delicious. It is surprisingly light in body, but also quite deep in aroma and flavor.

2005 Blandine Chauchat Coteaux de Languedoc Pic Saint-Loup Les Tonillières, $17. But I got it on sale for $13 at Astor, which makes it all the more absurd. Blandine Chauchat has a plot in Les Tonillieres, a vineyard owned by her husband Pierre Jequier's family, the family behind the Mas Foulaquier estate. This is a blend of Carignan, Syrah, and Grenache. Lovely nose of rich dark fruit and soil, some black licorice with air time. BrooklynLady picked out sea water too, which I understood in the context of the mineral streak running underneath the fruit. The palate is well balanced with ripe earthy dark fruit and good acidity, and there are lingering licorice and soil mouth aromas. Sounds heavy maybe, but it's not - medium bodied and easy to drink. This wine has nice structure too, with fine dusty tannins. Worth the $17, a steal at $13.

2005 Comptoirs de Magdala Côtes de Provence Escapade, $16. I loved the 2006 vintage at the tasting. Both the 05 and 06 were available at Astor so I figured why not try the more mature wine, especially when it's a bit cheaper? It was very good, but it was less ripe and much lighter than the busty, dense, and spicy 2006. Very enjoyable, but not what I'd hoped for. It almost didn't stand up to our beefy grass-fed hangar steaks. Don't get me wrong, it was good, but not I'll-have-to-taste-this-importer's-other-wines good. So I'll try the 06 at home next.

If they're available in your area I really encourage you to try one of these wines. Jenny & Francois are bringing in wines that reflect a sense of place, and the craftsmanship of the wine maker. And the prices make it pretty easy, too. If you do try, please let me know what you think.